In His Arms
by lifethatyouhate
Summary: “You’re ruining my book!” “I’m making it better,” he argued with a grin. “Besides, you love these things. Aren’t you having fun living out one of the scenes?” Selphie brings a romance novel to the beach, and her best friend is quick to tease her for it.


Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters/places/things associated with it.

Selphie was a hopeless romantic.

It had been obvious from a young age, where she paired the dolls together and set up little weddings for them. When she was old enough to read, the only thing she would waste her time on was a book revolving around romance and true love and the perfect kiss. She loved those sappy 'chick flicks,' she listen to music all about love, she adored listening to other's love stories, and her favorite pastime was spent fantasizing about her own happily ever after.

It had been very clear, and would remain to be very clear, because that was just who she was. Selphie had never questioned it, never doubted it, and never been ashamed of it- well, much.

But it did make things a little difficult.

For example, when she was young and had first met Tidus, he was a _boy_, and so she liked him. Then as she got older, he was a _boy_, and so she liked him. And now that he was a teenage _boy_, she still liked him. And liking Tidus made being his best friend a little…complicated.

When he had his short lived crush on Kairi, he had come to her for advice, come to her to chat, come to her to ask how he could catch her attention over Sora. Then, when he had wanted to ask a girl at school to go to the dance with him, she had delivered the love letter _she_ had written to the girl _he_ liked, and she had returned to tell him all about his rejection.

And now that he was a teenage _boy_, he wasn't afraid to point out girls he thought were cute with his male friends, and he wasn't ashamed of the feelings he had for girls, and he always made sure that his best girl friend was in on all the news.

Sometimes, Selphie thought things would be simpler if she had just fallen for Wakka, instead. Wakka was far more mature than Tidus, anyways. Or Riku. He was strong, cool, collected. Or even Sora. Sora was kind, good-natured…albeit a little clueless, of course.

But she hadn't, had she? She had fallen for arrogant, know-it-all, self-centered Tidus, and try as she might she couldn't deny it, and no matter how much she chastised herself for it, she wouldn't have it any other way.

"What's up Selphie?" the blonde boy's familiar voice pulled her from her typical thoughts of him, and she closed the book that had been lying in her book with a loud snap and tried to shove it in her bag before Tidus could get his hands on it.

But he did anyway. He dove right across her and snatched her bag up, swinging it around to pull out the book, and laughing when he did.

"_In His Arms_. Oh, this seems like a good read, doesn't it?" he asked her with a playful smile.

"Give it back, Tidus, it's not funny!" Selphie pouted and jumped to her feet. Of course, her favorite blonde was about five inches taller than her, and held the book above his head, lowering it to her level just to snatch it away again with a hearty laugh.

"Let me read the back: Two children made for each other find themselves falling in love until they're finally old enough to realize it. Oh, look at this review: This heart wrenching tale will both impress and depress you as you travel along with the perfect couple through life's twists and t-,"

"Tidus!" Selphie complained, grabbing onto his arms and tugging with all of her might.

Now, liking him as much as she did, usually grabbing onto his muscular arms made her blush like crazy, but in situations like this it was easy to get angry at him, easy to tug at him and argue with him.

"Let me open this up," Tidus grinned down at Selphie, though he struggled to open the book, read it, and keep it out of her reach. "Elizabeth waited on the beach as Jeremy waded up to her, glistening in the sunlight…"

"Tidus!"

"'You came back!' Elizabeth exclaimed upon discovering him, leaping up to meet him with joy.' How come you never leap up to meet me with joy?" He asked her with a grin.

"That's not funny, Tidus! Maybe if you didn't always make fun of my stuff I _would _leap up with-,"

"'Of course I did, Liz,' Jeremy laughed, 'I only went to the store.'" He laughed at this and Selphie found her cheeks heating up, pulling even harder. "I can see why you like these things so much, Selph," he teased.

"Oh God, don't even try to act like the guy, Tidus, or-,"

"'Well, Selph, since you're so glad I'm here, let's go swimming together!'" Tidus shot her a smug look, only angering her further, and took advantage of the fact that she was latched onto his arm to pull her into the shallow water.

"You're so stupid!"

"Actually, Selphie, you're supposed to say, 'Oh, Ti, I think that's a brilliant idea.' Come on, just say it."

"No."

"Selphie," Tidus whined now in a perfect imitation of her. "You're ruining all of my fun."

"You're ruining my book!"

"I'm making it _better_," he argued with a grin. "Besides, you love these things. Aren't you having fun living out one of the scenes?"

Selphie's cheeks reddened even more as her grip loosened. Tidus didn't pull away, but merely gave her a triumphant smile. "It's just a book, Tidus. It's not like…it'll never be…"

He gave her a strange look. "It'll never be…what?"

"Real," she sighed quietly to herself. "This kind of stuff would never happen in real life."

Tidus carefully tossed the book and bag he had taken from her safely onto the sand, letting her hold on even though he didn't have what she wanted any longer- or at least, he thought he didn't.

"Aw, come on Selphie. Why would you want dumb stuff like that to happen? Wouldn't you rather have an honest, real confession of love, instead of every second being oh I love you, why'd you have to go to the store, you were gone _soooo_ long…it's better when it's real stuff. And _that_," he gestured at the romance novel laying open on the beach, "is not real."

"Because that stuff isn't happening to me _now_," Selphie retorted. "Nothing romantic is happening to me now, so I'll read about it in books until then!" She finished this statement with a defiant _hmph_, and gripped his arm even tighter, as if he were still holding something over her- which perhaps he was.

Tidus rolled his eyes and shot her another playful smile. "Then what do you call _this_?"

He shook his arm in front of her, and with a gasp she relinquished it, backing up until she stumbled over her own feet, landing in a sitting up position with the same horrified look.

"What? Did I say something?" Tidus asked her, head tilted to the side.

Selphie nodded her head. "Yes, you said something. You said a whole lot of something!"

Instead of helping her up, Tidus took a sat next to her, grinning over at the brunette beside her. "I mean, we're just like them, Selphie, in a way. Everyone always figured we'd get together one day."

"They…no…wait…they did?" she stuttered, and her words got mixed up, coming out in strange little noises until she finally was able to say, "They did?" as clearly as possible.

"Well, of course. I thought you knew," Tidus chuckled a bit, kicking water at her.

"But…but…you asked out other girls! And you…you talked about other girls…That does _not _happen in romance books, Tidus."

"Sometimes it does. Remember that one book you had, _My Sister's Guy_?"

"Leave them out of this!"

Tidus help us his hands defensively, laughing. "Okay, okay. Well, I thought it would make you jealous. And it's kind of funny when you're jealous. And I always thought that after I said something about some girl, you would finally say how you felt. I mean, I made it painfully obvious."

"Apparently not obvious enough," Selphie retorted under her breath.

Her companion laughed. "Well, it was obvious to everyone else. I mean, why else would I walk you to and from school? Why would I ditch my guy friends to hang out with you? I kept hoping you would finally _do _something. I mean, you even delivered that fake letter to my friend, and she said you were just fine. I was starting to think you didn't like me…but sometimes it seemed like you did…you're very confusing."

Selphie stared at the boy next to her, stunned. "You're so much more mature, Tidus," she finally said. His voice echoed in her head from the years before Sora, Riku and Kairi had traveled, before their island had been destroyed and rebuilt. _You feeling lucky today?_ He would ask, and he would prod the air with his toy sword all day…

"Thanks for noticing," he replied sarcastically.

They sat there next to each other, unsure what to say for a moment. Occasionally, one took a peek at the other, and even more rarely, they both looked at each other and then blushed and looked in the opposite direction, focusing on things they could care less about.

"Can I ask you something?" Tidus asked after their long pause, sounding surprisingly nervous. In all of the years Selphie had known him, Tidus had never been nervous. Even when he had sent her to talk to that girl he liked…or, if what he said was true, didn't really like.

It was strange, after all of the years of wishing that he liked her too, to actually have him like her. She was sure that she was dreaming, and would wake up any second, just like always. Or maybe he was just playing a really mean practical joke. Or maybe…it just hadn't sunk in yet.

"Sure," she answered, shrugging.

Tidus played around with the water, trying some new splashing technique in which he flicked a few droplets of water at Selphie's face. He shot a smile at the brunette, who merely rolled her eyes in response.

He opened his mouth to talk…and that was when she retaliated.

He spit out the salt water instantly, shooting her a dark look. "Hey, I was talking! Cheater! Cheater cheater cheater cheater-,"

She splashed him again.

And then it had begun. Water flew everywhere, and who had sent it which way was a mystery even to the two in the middle of it, shouting and laughing and splashing at each other, as if they weren't wet enough, soaking Selphie's open romance novel, soaking a good two feet of the beach near them, soaking everything they could until they both fell against each other, laughing and too worn out to continue.

Selphie leaned against his chest where she had fallen, laughing and feeling his chest heave in and out beneath her head. When she lifted it, that same nervous look had found its way to his face.

"Do you like me too, Selphie? I mean, despite all of the crap I put you through. And how, uh…immature I can be at times," he shot her a cheesy grin. "I know I can be a real jerk some…most of the time. But…"

"You're so…so…stupid!" Selphie shouted at the boy sitting beside her, whose eyes widened instantly. "You think that after all these years, after all I've put up with, after everything we've been through, that I might _not _like you? Of course I do, Tidus!"

The blonde boy couldn't help but laugh. "You're not messing with me?" he asked her.

Selphie flung her hands up in exasperation as the boy grinned mischievously behind her. She leapt to her feet and began to stroll towards her soaked book, sweeping it up with one quick motion. "Honestly, Tidus, _you're _the one messing with _me_, I swear you are the most confusing boy I have ever-,"

A hand on her shoulder stopped her, and the book was taken from her hand. She turned around to face Tidus, who, she realized with a little squeal, was incredibly close to her.

"Hey, Selphie?"

"Yeah?"

"Just shut up," Tidus grinned, pressing his lips against her's as he flung the book back onto the beach.

"What the heck is this?" a voice asked, and the pair broke apart quickly, cheeks red, soaked, hair dripping, wearing identical grins, to see who had caught them.

But Wakka didn't appear to be paying any attention to them at all. "Selphie, I thought you loved these things, ay? Why'd you let it get all wet?" he asked, holding up the book that had apparently been thrown right to him.

Selphie and Tidus exchanged a long look, and then they were laughing again, making unrecognizable noises that only the other could understand.

"Reality is better," the girl declared cheerfully, and with this admittance Tidus swept her off her feet- literally- and carried her onto the beach, spinning her around as water drops flicked everywhere.

"You said it, Selph."

Author's Note: Haha, I've been writing this for a while…I just thought that Selphie and Tidus were a cute pair. And I know that he's a year younger than her (I think?) but oh well. Haha they're the same age here. And yeah…I hope you guys liked it. :) Thanks for reading!


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